1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vending devices and more particularly pertains to an secure periodical vending machine for dispensing individual copies of a periodical to a customer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of vending devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, vending devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art vending devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,369; U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,178; U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,743; U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,005; U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,658; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,242.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a secure periodical vending machine for dispensing individual copies of a periodical which includes housing having an dispensing aperture extending through a front wall thereof, a hopper mounted within the housing and including a plurality of separate receiving bins for receiving individual periodicals, and a coin changer receiving coins from a customer to open an individual receiving bin to dispense a periodical through the slot in the housing to the customer.
In these respects, the secure periodical vending machine according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of dispensing individual copies of a periodical to a customer.